Alice Benton's Blog

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The Spirit of April - Maya Angelou

This is in spirit of National Poetry Month.  I am posting one of my favorite poems by one of my favorite poets, Maya Angelou.

Still I Rise

BY MAYA ANGELOU
You may write me down in history   
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt   
But still, like dust, I'll rise.


Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?   
’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells   
Pumping in my living room.


Just like moons and like suns,   
With the certainty of tides,   
Just like hopes springing high,   
Still I'll rise.


Did you want to see me broken?   
Bowed head and lowered eyes?   
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,   
Weakened by my soulful cries?


Does my haughtiness offend you?   
Don't you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines   
Diggin’ in my own backyard.


You may shoot me with your words,   
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.


Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds   
At the meeting of my thighs?


Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,   
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.


Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,   
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.   
I rise
I rise   
I rise.


*Posts you may enjoy are Black Love Poetry Sample 1 - Waking Up and God's Gift

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